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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23191855">La Aversidad</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleMissWolfie/pseuds/LittleMissWolfie'>LittleMissWolfie</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons), Trollhunters - Daniel Kraus &amp; Guillermo del Toro</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, the jlaire is implied</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 02:07:13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>854</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23191855</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleMissWolfie/pseuds/LittleMissWolfie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>NotEnrique has a lot to think about. And Claire's the smartest human he knows, so he figures using her books is the best place to start.</p>
<p>Written for BECOME: A Trollhunter Fanbook</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Claire Nuñez &amp; NotEnrique, Jim Lake Jr./Claire Nuñez</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>La Aversidad</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi, everyone!</p>
<p>This is a little late, but I've been busy. This is the first zine piece I've ever written, and it's probably my first focusing on such a side character like NotEnrique. I had a lot of fun getting into his headspace, since it's one I'm not usually inclined to enter, and I think it turned out very well. I hope you like it!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Stop stealing my books!"</p>
<p>Claire's face is funny when she's mad, he thinks. It goes all pink and scrunches up. For an actress, she has a terrible poker face. "I'm not stealin' 'em," he says, "I'm just borrowin' 'em." As if to demonstrate, he holds his current focus aloft, showing it completely intact. "Did this guy <em>really</em> go live out in the woods for that long, or did he just make it up?"</p>
<p>His pseudo-sister snatches the book from his clawed hands. She's been touchy ever since she found out about trolls and changelings and whatnot. Not that he can really blame her; if he had anyone he really cared about, he'd probably feel the same. "Funnily enough, I never got to ask. Leave my stuff alone! In fact, stay out of my room! You have plenty of toys in here!" She reaches blindly and tosses a set of blocks in the crib he's lounging on. They bounce harmlessly off his tough skin. "Play with those if you're so bored."</p>
<p>"You <em>do</em> realize I'm not actually your baby brother, right?"</p>
<p>It's a low blow, he knows. Pain flashes in her eyes and she spits out an "Unfortunately, yes," before she spins on her heel and exits the room.</p>
<p>He waits until the door closes behind her to clamber out of Enrique's crib and regards himself in the mirror. He morphs back into Enrique and looks again. He thinks about Stricklander, and how long he's been masquerading as Waltholomew Strickler, and what his life is. That's what his life will look like, he thinks. He'll grow up, stage his death, hide out for a few years, and come back somewhere else. Maybe he'll go on a few dates with a pretty woman, like Stricklander is with the Trollhunter's mom. Maybe he'll get a degree or ten. As long as he doesn't irritate the Gumm-Gumms too much, his path is pretty clear.</p>
<p>He's got an out from the Janus Order, in a way. The Trollhunter. Claire's boyfriend. But is he willing to risk what he has for a bunch of idiots like them? Sure, the Janus Order ain't perfect. He knows one screw up could cost him his life. But as long as he keeps his head down, he's fine, so why bother going after the hornets' nest with a stick?</p>
<p>The Trollhunter wouldn't be able to retaliate if he decides not to go through with the plan. Claire knows now, but her parents don't, and they would go ballistic if anything happened to their <em>mi cielito.</em> And Mrs. Nuñez is the mayor, so she could do anything she wanted to the Trollhunter. He's safe on that end no matter what.</p>
<p>But he's dead if he goes against the Janus Order. Donezo. Sayonara. Any <em>hint</em> of insubordination earns an instant execution. So, since he's safe from the Trollhunter, it's only natural that he stay loyal to the Janus Order.</p>
<p><em>Coward,</em> says a voice that sounds like Claire. <em>You're a coward.</em></p>
<p>So he's been reading.</p>
<p>Claire's a pretty smart girl. She's loads smarter than the Trollhunter and his heavy little friend, and they're managed to outmaneuver the Janus Order so far. So he's started snatching her books from her room while she's at school. Most of those human philosophers aren't very helpful on his front. They all seem to see fear as irrational, no matter what the circumstances. <em>If you knew about the Janus Order, you wouldn't be so cocky,</em> he thinks, usually right before Claire storms into his room to retrieve her belongings.</p>
<p>Then, in that moment, he remembers another word he hears his sort-of family use.</p>
<p>
  <em>La aversidad</em>
  <em>.</em>
</p>
<p>The adversity.</p>
<p>Maybe that's the word he needs.</p>
<p>He waits until Claire leaves her room to take a shower before he re-enters in search or new inspiration. Her windows over her window seat are open; probably for the Trollhunter, he thinks. They're not officially dating (Claire had made that point very clear to her girlie friends over the phone) but they're not subtle about their pining, and he's heard the Trollhunter climbing the house a few times. He almost tears her bookshelf apart, heedless of the little tears his claws are making in the pages he flips through until his eyes alight on the word he's been looking for in one of her fancier, well-kept books.</p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p><strong>KING HENRY VI: </strong>Let me embrace thee, sour adversity,</p>
  <p>For wise men say it is the wisest course.</p>
</blockquote><p>"The wisest course, eh?" He isn't exactly sure that that means; he never claimed to be smart. Maybe it means accepting adversity is good? He'll be a monkey's uncle if he really knows. But if this guy Claire reads so much of thinks it, it must be true, right?</p>
<p><em>I'm an idiot,</em> he thinks. An absolute numbskull. This is <em>suicide.</em></p>
<p>The water in the bathroom shuts off and he can hear Claire humming under her breath from across the hall. He carefully replaces her books to about where they were before and scrams before Clair gets out of the shower.</p>
<p>
  <em>Let me embrace thee, sour adversity.</em>
</p>
<p>He's got a Trollmarket to get to.</p>
  </div></div>
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